A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce by Research in the field of Management to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, June 2017 / The field of social entrepreneurship is gaining prominence in academic research through its ability to drive innovation and solve complex societal problems. There is a growing interest in this field due to the inherent appeal of entrepreneurship as well as the need to address social inequalities. However, despite the growing interest in social entrepreneurship, there is limited academic research in the subject – especially with regards to the nexus between institutional influence and scale of social enterprise. The majority of social entrepreneurial endeavours in South Africa are found in the food industry. Despite the magnitude of the role that social entrepreneurs play in this industry, research remains limited. Definitional debates with a bias towards conceptual research over empirical research dominates current study on social entrepreneurship – resulting in a lack of consensus among researchers on what social entrepreneurship means. In addition to the above, social entrepreneurship literature has devoted insufficient empirical and theoretical work to the study of scaling of social impact. The majority of the theoretical work has been geared towards the development of practitioner frameworks. The empirical research in the field has also been limited, specifically with regards to understanding the drivers of successful scaling of social entrepreneurial organisations. The majority of these empirical studies have utilised comparative case study approaches. Using institutional theory as a lens, this research aimed to develop a conceptual framework that can be utilised by social entrepreneurs, as well as relevant stakeholders in order to promote the scale of individual social enterprises, particularly in the South African food industry, by developing a “roadmap” to scaling. In addition to the above, the focus was on food security in the South African food industry. It is intended that the conceptual framework can indirectly address the broader societal issues surrounding food security. The above was achieved through a qualitative study. Perceptions of institutional influence on scale as well as start-ups, and drivers of scale were identified through conducting a literature review. A conceptual framework was then established from these constructs. The next step involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 14 social entrepreneurs in the food industry to validate the constructs, and identify the relationships between the constructs. The data was then analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological approach. The result of the qualitative research is a conceptual research framework, with certain hypotheses. The empirical study identified social innovation as well as the implementation of impactful governmental policies as the most critical institutional influencers of scale. In addition, using SCALERS model as a reference, the empirical study identified lobbying, alliance building, and staffing as drivers to scale. It is noted that that lobbying and alliance building can be linked to government policies as it relates to the collaboration of social enterprises in order to influence policymakers, in addition, staffing relates to the use of volunteers to bring new innovative solutions to the business – these drivers of scale (based on SCALERS model) reinforce the identified institutional influences as critical to scale. If all of the above are present, with all things being equal, then social ventures are more likely to scale – resulting in economic growth and in addition, social issues such as food security will be addressed. From a social entrepreneurship perspective, this study made a substantial contribution in shifting the social entrepreneurship research focus from conceptual, definition biased research towards empirical research that strengthened theoretical research on social entrepreneurship. / XL2018

This research investigated the development of a balanced scorecard for a frozen vegetable processing plant. The balanced scorecard can be utilised as a strategic management and performance measurement system. First, an overview of the balanced scorecard concept was presented. Its four perspectives, namely financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth were explained. Thereafter, the process of developing a balanced scorecard was outlined and the translation of a firm’s vision into measurable objectives and targets was discussed. Finally, the literature study evaluated the development of balanced scorecards by means of selected case studies. This included an analysis of the successes and failures of balanced scorecards in practice. The research methodology consisted of: (a) A literature study to determine a framework for developing a balanced scorecard. (b) Interviews and workshops to gather the primary data required to develop a balanced scorecard. The development of a balanced scorecard for a frozen vegetable processing plant using the findings from (a) and (b) above. The following recommendations were made: · Targets and action plans should be developed for the outstanding strategic objectives of the plant, and all key performance measurements should be formalised on key performance area documents. All role players should be involved in this process. · All employees must be exposed to, and understand the plant’s vision, mission statement and the purpose of the balanced scorecard. · All employees need to understand how their actions impact on other employees and the well-being of the plant. They must have set objectives and targets that can be measured. · To increase the chance of a successful scorecard implementation, regular feedback must be provided to all employees, and managers must hold people accountable for using the system.

The advent of globalisation and the re-admittance of South Africa into the international market place have presented both opportunities and threats to local fast food outlets and franchises. These food outlets are faced with foreign competition and the need to adapt their strategies in order to cope with the continued onslaught of these highly efficient, foreign, service orientated organisations if they intend to survive. This research explored the strategies these fast food outlets should utilise to deal with their competition and to facilitate their market growth and organisational development which could lead to them being successfully franchised at a later stage. The study revealed that if any significant growth and organisational development was to be expected, the fast food outlet had to concentrate on customer satisfaction and retention through the innovative use of the 7P’s of the marketing mix in its strategy formulation process. Attention also needed to be given to the competitive forces in the external environment so that competitive strategies were in line with market developments. The triangulation method was applied in this study. In terms of this method, qualitative and quantitative research techniques are combined in order to improve the reliability and validity of the research findings. This method proved to be an effective research tool as the findings in the quantitative research were verified by the findings in the qualitative research. Franchising in South Africa, especially the Eastern Cape, where unemployment is highest, is important as it has the potential for job creation and economic empowerment of the disadvantaged communities. It is therefore essential that every endeavour be made to ensure the success of the emerging entrepreneurs through assisting them to develop strategies that will ensure sustainable development and growth.

M.B.A. / Franchising systems in South Africa have experienced high and sustained growth over the last decade. The South African government has recognised and supports business format franchising as a low risk way of creating jobs, transferring skills and creating wealth. At the forefront of this growth, is the fast food franchising industry, which is made up of a mix of global brands and a significant few, highly successful, locally founded, franchised operations based on Portuguese or American cultures. The fast food industry in South Africa also consists of a number of successful "non franchised" Indian fast food operations, founded by South Africans of Indian descent. None of these entrepreneurs have taken the next logical step and developed their businesses into national franchises. This study sought to uncover the factors inhibiting the franchising of Indian fast food stores in South Africa and to determine whether there was a market for Indian fast foods amongst a sample of consumers. The findings were that the independent entrepreneurs lacked the skills and knowledge to enter franchising as the franchisor. In addition, there was a general mistrust of the franchising system and doubts as to whether there was sufficient broad appeal of Indian fast foods. The results of the consumer survey however suggested that Indian fast foods were popular across a cross section of the population. Consequently, the report recommended that existing Indian fast food entrepreneurs develop strategies to exploit the market opportunities presented and suggested that it is the entrepreneur who franchises first, that will gain first more advantage through pre-empting real estate and shaping customer preferences and tastes.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / INTRODUCTION: This research report investigates the feasibility of an innovative food outlet in Cape Town called HOME CHEF. The food and groceries industry is continuously changing to suit the needs of individuals and to respond to current economic and health trends. Charles Darwin observed, “It‟s not the strongest nor the most intelligent creature that survives. It's the one that is most responsive to change” (Goodreads). HOME CHEF is a new business concept with a unique approach to assist people with the acquisition of their groceries and the preparation of their home-cooked meals, whilst providing a variety of different meal options for a typical family. With Darwin‟s theory in mind, HOME CHEF will respond to the changing environment by taking advantage of evolving food and retail trends. HOME CHEF will target a large market that includes the typical fast food, online retail and grocery segment. Because of the demographic variety of the customer base and due to the innovative nature behind the HOME CHEF concept, little information regarding, market trends, operations and existing strategies was available. Innovative approaches had to be used to acquire the information required for a suitable business plan.

Organisational theorists and managers have long shown interest in the role of innovation in organisations as innovation plays a crucial role in sustaining competitive advantage. A recent study revealed a gap between what leading corporations say about innovation and what they do. The gap is large: while 80 percent of companies acknowledged the importance of innovation in their business, only four percent were confident that they were good at it. The present study assessed innovation in a local FMCG organisation. An attempt to ascertain the factors determining innovation delivery in the company was made. The current investigation demonstrated that the overall perception on the company's innovation was high, notably the emphasis on the importance of innovation. Positive strong innovation capabilities have been demonstrated: high innovation commitment, a strategy that promotes innovation and that is clearly communicated and understood by all levels, adequate resources and facilities that keep the company competitive and, very important, an effective process. However, to sustain growth through innovation, the organisation needs to address a number of key issues such as unfavourable employee attitudes towards innovation, risk management, management creativity and the company structure. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

In several countries around the world, grain commodities are traded as assets on stock exchanges. This indicate that the market and effectively the prices of the grain commodities in such countries, are controlled by several local and international economic, political and social factors that are rapidly changing. As a result, the prices of some grain commodities are volatile and trading in such commodities are prone to price-related risks. There are different trading strategies for minimising price-related risks and maximising profits. But empirical research suggests that making the right decision for effective grain commodities trading has been a difficult task for stakeholders due to high volatility of grain commodities prices. Studies have shown that this is more challenging among grain commodities farmers because of their lack of skills and the time to sift through and make sense of the datasets on the plethora of factors that influence the grain commodities market. This thesis focused on providing an answer for the main research problem that grain farmers in South Africa do not take full advantage of all the available strategies for trading their grain commodities because of the complexities associated with monitoring the large datasets that influence the grain commodities market. The main objective set by this study is to design a framework that can be followed to collect, integrate and analyse datasets that influence trading decisions of grain farmers in South Africa about grain commodities. This study takes advantage of the developments in Big Data and Data Science to achieve the set objective using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. The prediction of future prices of grain commodities for the different trading strategies was identified as an important factor for making better decisions when trading grain commodities and the key factors that influence the prices were identified. This was followed by a critical review of the literature to determine how the concepts of Big Data and Data Science can be leveraged for an effective grain commodities trading decision support. This resulted in a proposed framework for grain commodities trading. The proposed framework suggested an investigation of the factors that influence the prices of grain commodities as the basis for acquiring the relevant datasets. The proposed framework suggested the adoption of the Big Data approach in acquiring, preparing and integrating relevant datasets from several sources. Furthermore, it was suggested that algorithmic models for predicting grain commodities prices can be developed on top of the data layer of the proposed framework to provide real-time decision support. The proposed framework suggests the need for a carefully designed visualisation of the result and the collected data that promotes user experience. Lastly, the proposed framework included a technology consideration component to support the Big Data and Data Science approach of the framework. To demonstrate that the proposed framework addressed the main problem of this research, datasets from several sources on trading white maize in South Africa and the factors that influence market were streamed, integrated and analysed. Backpropagation Neural Network algorithm was used for modelling the prices of white maize for spot and futures trading strategies were predicted. There are other modelling techniques such as the Box-Jenkins statistical time series analysis methodology. But, Neural Networks was identified as more suitable for time series data with complex patterns and relationships. A demonstration system was setup to provide effective decision support by using near real-time data to provide a dynamic predictive analytics for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize in South Africa. Comparative analysis of predictions made using the model from the proposed framework to actual data indicated a significant degree of accuracy. A further evaluation was carried out by asking experienced traders to make predictions for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize. The result of the exercise indicated that the predictions from the developed model were much closer to the actual prices. This indicated that the proposed framework is technically capable and generally useful. It also shows that the proposed framework can be used to provide decision support about trading grain commodities to stakeholders with lesser skills, experience and resources. The practical contribution of this thesis is that relevant datasets from several sources can be streamed into an integrated data source in real-time, which can be used as input for a real-time learning algorithmic model for predicting grain commodities prices. This will make it possible for a predictive analytics that responds to market volatility thereby providing an effective decision support for grain commodities trading. Another practical contribution of this thesis is a proposed framework that can be followed for developing a Decision Support System for trading in grain commodities. This thesis made theoretical contributions by building on the information processing theory and the decision making theory. The theoretical contribution of this thesis consists of the identification of Big Data approach, tools and techniques for eradicating uncertainty and equivocality in grain commodities trading decision making process.

For more than a decade (2001 – 2012) there has been extensive research conducted on the impact of marketing on food consumption, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the use of media communication channels in the restaurant industry. However, no known research has focused specifically on the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment with a specific focus on media communication channels. This study attempts to address this limitation. The study deals with selected media communication channels and their influence on the healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions of young adult consumers in South Africa. The study considers the impact that a more selective choice of media communication channel can have on restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment. Media communication channels are a vital part of a restaurant’s marketing communication program as they transmit messages between the business and its target market. In South Africa’s restaurant industry, there are numerous businesses that are conveying messages to consumers regarding their market offerings. This advertising clutter is aggravated by healthy fast-casual restaurants needing to compete against traditional fast-casual restaurants who are adding healthier items to their menus. The study’s secondary research included a literature review on marketing communication, selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) and the South African restaurant industry (with a focus on the healthy fast-casual segment). In addition, perception and purchase intention were discussed with a focus on healthy lifestyles and young adult consumers. In order to establish the influence of the selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) on young adults’ healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions an empirical investigation was also conducted. A positivistic research paradigm was used as quantitative methods were performed to identify significant relationships among the selected variables. The sample consisted of students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. A total of 440 questionnaires were distributed, with 350 usable. Therefore, a response rate of 79.55 per cent was obtained. The empirical investigation revealed that the items in the questionnaire that were used to gather information about healthy lifestyle perception and healthy lifestyle purchase intention loaded together on one factor which was renamed healthy lifestyle buying behaviour. Multiple regression analysis indicated that positive and statistically significant relationships existed between print media and healthy lifestyle buying behaviour and between online media and the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. These relationships imply that an increased use of print media will reflect increased buying behaviour that supports healthy lifestyles amongst young adults. Similarly, the more online media is used, the more young adult buying behaviour will reflect healthier choices. This implies that restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment can increase the demand for their market offerings and stand out amongst the advertising clutter through a more deliberate use of print media and online media. The study includes strategies that can be used to improve the use of print media and online media in order to influence the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. Healthy lifestyle buying behaviours essentially will increase the demand for goods that support healthy lifestyles and therefore increase the demand for healthy fast-casual restaurants. The provision of healthy menu items and a more focused marketing program can be used as a strategy to attract more young adults as consumers, to grow business relationships with this target market, to enhance business performance and to create a healthier South African community.

This research study aimed to provide the South African fast food industry and their advertising representatives with insights into 18-28-year-olds‟ perception of using sexual appeal to elicit their attention, and whether using this advertising technique is gaining positive brand recognition with this target market. This research study aimed to determine the selected sample‟s (NMMU students) perceptions of three South African fast food brands, namely KFC, Nando’s and Steers, in terms of their use of sexualised fast food advertisements. An electronic survey questionnaire was conducted with both closed and open-ended questions relating to the use of sexual appeal in advertising within the three South African fast food brands. The survey questionnaire helped determine what the selected sample‟s perceptions were of each advertisement, and whether the use of sexual appeal captured their attention. A semiotic analysis of each advertisement was conducted to determine if the advertisements do contain the use of sexual appeal, by examining the sign. This includes looking at the three aspects of a sign namely the signifier, the referent and the signified. In terms of this study, the signifier represents the T.V. advertisements; the signified represents the meaning of the advertisements and the referent represents to what the advertisements are initially referring. The results of the study indicated that each of the three fast food advertisements incorporated the use of sexual appeal in varying degrees. Respondents indicated that the sexual appeal in the advertisements was appropriate if they were directed at the right age group. The respondents indicated that these three advertisements were more likely to attract the males, in the target market and they felt that the advertisements leaned towards objectifying the women, which would be offensive to the females in the target market. It was determined that if the advertisements contained humour, they were more effective and memorable.

Masters Research Report Department of International Relations School of Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities The University of the Witwatersrand / This research report provides a framework to assess the value of private-public partnerships (PPPs) in shaping the regulatory framework of the food safety regime within southern Africa. As one of Africa’s largest economies and major exporting countries, South Africa provides a clear case for analysing how developing countries in Africa have adopted and enforce international standards relating to the safety of foodstuffs that are produced, distributed and sold. Within the international systems, governments are generally held responsible for the ratification of international treaties that inform global standards and are criticised or excluded when they fail to comply. However, the role of private sector in supporting and enforcing food safety practices has not been evaluated in any meaningful way. The aim of this research is further the understanding of how PPPs have formed in South Africa and to what extent they have had a positive impact on the advancement of food safety between the years 2000 and 2015. With the help of document analysis and a review of the current regulatory framework, this research is framed within the concept of hybridity and allows us to better understand the focus of PPPs within South Africa’s food safety regime. The main conclusion is that South Africa’s commitment to food safety is strong but the relevant policy remains uncoordinated and undefined. South African businesses and the government are involved at the international level in terms of standards-setting and are aware of the global food safety strategy. The primary reason for this is that the country’s involvement improves trade prospects and affirms its role as a collaborative actor within the International Food Safety Complex (IFSC). However, South Africa still experiences several issues relating to food safety risks that affect trade and challenge the efficacy of existing food safety regulations. The recommendation is that public and private sectors should invest more capital and capacity in establishing a comprehensive food safety policy that brings together legislation, identifies key actors and provides a guideline to improve transparency and accountability relating to food safety issues in South Africa. / MT2017